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Sermon: “God’s Possession” or “The
Fullness of Time”
Turn in your Bible to Galatians 4 and beginning in verse 4:
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Galatians 4:4-5
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons.
The “fulness of time" was the time that God in His eternal wisdom and
forethought had appointed as the ideal time for Christ to come into the
world as our Savior. To say it differently, divine planning and
preparation preceded the Savior's birth.
His coming was not a brief thought that flashed into our heavenly
Father's mind and was rashly and impulsively acted upon; rather, His
coming was intricately blueprinted in the mind of God before the
foundations of the world were laid.
When the necessary events took place, when the world was ripe for this
divine intervention, Jesus was born. Appropriately, Paul called that
juncture in history "the fulness of time."
The entire Old Testament period formed a prelude for the coming of the
Messiah. In the Patriarchal period, God chose Abraham and Jacob to be
His servants through whom He would create a nation that He would call
His own. He elected to call this nation "Israel," the name which He had
given to Jacob.
In the Mosaical Age, God brought His chosen nation under His law, which
He revealed through Moses at Mount Sinai. He taught them to worship Him
and to live as His holy people. Yet, all of God's actions during the Old
Testament period were really the groundwork, the prearrangement, for
bringing the Messiah into the world at "the fulness of time." Someone
has said, "The story of the Old Testament is the story of a nation, and
the story of the New Testament is the story of a Person."
Since the story of the Old Testament is the story of the nation of
Israel, and since the creation of this nation was God's advance work for
the bringing of the Messiah into the world, we should not be surprised
that Paul referred to the Lord's church as the Israel of God:
Galatians 6:16
And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and
upon the Israel of God.
Nor are we surprised that Paul figuratively depicted the church with
terms taken from God's covenant relationship with ancient Israel: Turn
to Philippians 3
Philippians 3:3
For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and
glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
This depiction of the church as "Israel" should be highly significant to
us, for it tells us that Christians are spiritual Israel today and have
been set apart as God's own possession even as was ancient Israel!
Perhaps the most concise affirmation in the New Testament that the
church is New Testament Israel is 1 Peter 2:9-10.
Let us begin with 1 Peter 1 and verse 22:
1 Peter 1:22-25
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Now continue right into chapter 2:
1 Peter 2:1-10
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion
a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is
made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
appointed.
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God:
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
As Peter explained what it means to be a Christian in 1 Peter 1:22-2:10,
he referred to the Christian's conversion (1:22-25), conduct (2:2-3),
and calling (2:4-10). He concluded by asking his readers to rejoice in
the truth that Christians are God's chosen people, His true Israel.
Focus on Peter's reference to Christians as the Israel of God in 1 Peter
2:9-10. This comparison confirms our special relationship with God and
our special calling from God; it gives us reason to rejoice in the
spiritual blessings that are offered to us in Christ. These verses will
teach us that we are spiritual Israel.
First, in 1 Peter 2:9, God calls us, “A
CHOSEN RACE”
They have been elected, picked out, and set apart. They are God's
divinely selected race of people, called out from all the peoples of the
earth.
God had told Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai:
Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has
chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples
who are on the face of the earth.
He also said in Exodus 19:5:
Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then
you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth
is Mine.
However, in this last age of human history, Christians, not fleshly
Israelites, are God's chosen race. The old Israel led to, formed the
foundation of, and found fulfillment in the new Israel, the church. Paul
said it was God's predetermined choice that all who enter Christ would
be His chosen race of people:
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will:
Ephesians 1:4-5, 11
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will:
We have all had the disappointing experience of being left out, skipped
over, or ignored. We have watched as others have been nominated or
selected while we were completely passed by or left until last.
Some of us went through this frustration as children when teams were
chosen for a game; either others were chosen ahead of us, or we were
by-passed entirely and left to keep score with grace.
Some of us have lived through this type of ordeal as a list was read,
with the honored ones being named first. We listened expectantly, only
to hear our names read last and mispronounced.
Episodes like these depress us and stay with us for a long time as
haunting memories, crushing our self-image and convincing us that we are
"nobody."
These unpleasant circumstances treat us as poorly as the psychiatrist
did the unfortunate man who came to him pleading…
"Doc, I have an inferiority complex, and I don't know what to do about
it." After the psychiatrist spent several sessions analyzing the
patient, he told him, "Man, you don't have an inferiority complex;
you're just inferior!"
That we are God’s Israel today is a mighty truth---one so powerful that
it supercharges us with hope and assurance.
Situations in which people are passed over usually develop because too
much emphasis is placed on the abilities people have, how people look,
how smart people are, or what people own.
Consequently, when this happens to us, it is devastating, for it says to
us that we are not talented enough, good looking enough, smart enough,
or that we do not possess enough.
Christians, according to Peter, are God's chosen race. This is true, he
said, not because we are the most talented, the best looking, or the
smartest, or because we have the most, but because we are loved by God,
have responded in faith and obedience to God's will, and have become His
children, His church.
Our status with God has resulted from God's mercy, not from our money or
from human merit. Peter said:
1 Peter 2:10
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God:
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Paul told Titus: Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Spirit.
In our baptism into Christ, we received the mercy of God and became part
of His chosen race.
That we are God's Israel today is a mighty truth--- one so powerful that
it supercharges us with hope and assurance which harassing circumstances
and an unfriendly world cannot take from us.
For example, it should infuse us with confidence and boldness in prayer
to God. We can approach His throne with confidence at any time of need
or whenever we wish to praise and thank Him.
It should inspire us to live in God's strength, for being God's chosen
people implies that God's storehouse of spiritual blessings is never
closed to us. Notice in Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Let us rejoice that we are His chosen race!
Second, in 1 Peter 2:9, God calls us, “A
ROYAL PRIESTHOOD”
Christians are God's priests today. As one body, we compose a kingdom of
priests.
In Old Testament times, God provided His nation with access to Him
through Levitical priests. He chose for the priests to come from the
family of Amram from the tribe of Levi. They offered the sacrifices of
the people to Him, and they led Israel in worship to Him in all the
prescribed ways listed by the law of Moses.
God told the tribe of Levi, "... I am your portion and your inheritance.
. . ." (Numbers 18:20). The Levites were given the honor of serving God
uniquely in worship, in service, and in life. They were given access to
God and an intimate relationship with Him.
Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9 that the Levitical priesthood is no longer in
effect, and a new priesthood has been chosen by the Lord. Through the
redemptive work of Christ, He has appointed His church as His Christian
Age priesthood.
Not only has God called His church a priesthood; He has called it a
"royal" priesthood. The church is a kingdom of priests or kingly
priests.
John wrote from Patmos to persecuted Christians:
Revelation 1:6
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Peter also said: 1 Peter 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
The Christian can go directly to God through the assistance of the Holy
Spirit:
Turn to Romans 8:27
Romans 8:27
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of
God.
And through the intercessory work of Jesus, our Mediator and great High
Priest:
Turn to 1 Timothy 2:5
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus;
Hebrews 7:26-27
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice,
first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once,
when he offered up himself.
A Christian does not go to God through any intermediary other than Jesus
Christ. He can stand before God as God's priest and make his appeal to
God through Jesus Christ without the aid of ordained human priests,
departed saints, or angels.
The word "priest" in Latin means "bridge-builder." The idea of a bridge
illustrates the role of a priest during the Old Testament period. The
priest was a kind of spiritual bridge between God and man. He brought
God's will to man, and he offered man's requests to God. God went to the
people through the priest, and the people went to God through the
priest. How different it is today in the Christian Age! When one becomes
a Christian, he becomes, at the moment of his entrance into Christ, a
priest of God.
Our position as priests of God should compel us to be consecrated to
God's work and to utilize this sacred position He has given us to live
in His fellowship. As the priesthood of God, we have a place of high
privilege before God.
Let us rejoice that we are "a royal priesthood"!
Third in 1 Peter 2:9, God calls us, “A
HOLY NATION”
Figuratively speaking, the church is God's nation of people, a kingdom
of people exclusively consecrated to Him.
Israel, as God's chosen nation, was called to holiness. Through Moses,
God told Israel, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am
holy"(Leviticus l9:2). He further told them, "And you shall be to Me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6).
With this call of Israel to holiness in mind, and even quoting perhaps
from Leviticus 19:2, Peter told the readers of his letter:
1 Peter 1:15-16
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner
of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Christians, God's nation of people, are to be like God.
Ephesians 5:1-2
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself
for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
The word "holy" simply means "set aside for sacred use." As applied to
Christians, this word means that God's people have been set apart for
undivided devotion and service to Him.
A Christian has citizenship in two nations-one in which he dwells and in
another one to which he is devoted.
He lives in this world as a citizen of the earth, but his governing
citizenship is in the nation of God, a spiritual, heavenly kingdom.
Paul wrote: Philippians 3:20
For our conversation [citizenship]
is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ:
As a Christian thinks of how he is a citizen of God's holy nation, he is
at once comforted and challenged -----comforted by His relationship to
God and challenged by the heavenly calling that this relationship
implies.
Our conduct on earth, Peter said, should reflect at all times our
citizenship in heaven. Holiness is to extend to every aspect of the
Christian's life.
Peter said: 1 Peter 1:15
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation [conduct].
What we do, think, and say should reflect who we are.
If Christians will remember who they are, God's holy nation, they will
be constrained to live holy lives.
Let us rejoice that we are "a holy nation."
Fourth, in 1 Peter 2:9 God
calls us, “A PECULIAR PEOPLE”
The New American Standard Bible has "a people for God's own possession,"
which more clearly translates the Greek phrase.
The point is that Christians are God's private property, His own
possession; and, in this sense, they are peculiar.
God said to fleshly Israel through Moses:
Deuteronomy 7:6
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth.
He likewise said to them: Deuteronomy
26:18-19
18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people,
as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his
commandments;
19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in
praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy
people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
This beautiful concept of being a people which belongs to God is applied
by Peter to Christ's church, as he said that now, in the Christian era;
the church is the people of God's own possession.
Paul made a similar application of this phrase in Titus 2:14, when he
said that Christ…
Titus 2:14
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
We Christians may not be worth much when taken by ourselves, but when we
are seen as the people of God's own possession, a people owned and used
by God, we really go up in price!
It should do much for our self-worth, our sense of value, to realize
that God has made us, out of all the people of the earth, His own
possession.
Picture a young boy walking with his mother into a toy shop to buy a
toy. As he scans the toys for sale, his eyes focus upon a broken
sailboat which has pasted on it, "To Be Sold as is."
The sailboat is worth little "as is," but it becomes his choice. He pays
the paltry price for it.
As soon as he gets home, he goes to work on it. After putting a little
glue here, a new piece of wood there, and a new coat of paint all over
it, he can say to his boat, "I have bought you. I have repaired you. Now
you are truly mine!"
In a similar way, Christians belong to God. He has bought us with His
Son's blood, He has remade us in our conversion to Him, and He is
continually changing us as we walk with Him.
Now He can say in redemptive splendor, "These are truly My own people."
Every person who is converted to Christ is elevated to the high and
wonderful status of being a person of God's own possession.
Let us rejoice that we are "a peculiar people."
CONCLUSION
The church, therefore, is spiritual Israel, the Israel of God today.
We are a chosen people just as the Israel of old was chosen.
Israel was God’s holy nation. Today the church is God’s holy nation.
The Israel of old was God’s possession. Today we are His possession.
Even as God called Israel to be a people of His own possession in the
days of old, today, in these New Testament times, God regards Christ's
church as His chosen possession.
On the fourth Thursday of each November, Americans celebrate
Thanksgiving Day.
While we understand that the New Testament nowhere commands that one
particular day be a day of thanksgiving, it does picture thanksgiving as
a daily spirit, a continual attitude.
Thanksgiving in the New Testament is not an appointed day; it is a
disposition.
Paul characterized Christians as "always giving thanks for all things in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God:
Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we consider the blessings that Christians have, we can easily see
why the New Testament says that every day should be a thanksgiving day.
As "a chosen people," "a holy nation," "a royal priesthood," and "a
people of God's own possession," we are blessed indeed and should make
our way through each day singing, "Count your many blessings, name them
one by one." |
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